Naphalai's Diary: October 22-28

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Am I starting to slow down?

I used to be able to do six or seven events a day—plus my usual workload in the office. I notice I haven’t been doing that lately. On Thursday, I identified seven invitations I should try not to miss. In the end, I only made it to five. Oh dear, is age finally beginning to catch up on me? To be fair though (to me, that is) these events were in different corners of town, from Emporium to Charoenkrung and Gaysorn across the river to Anantara Riverside. With Bangkok’s notorious traffic, I think it was a bit too ambitious of me to think I could make it all.

I started off Oriental Residence, where Onchuma Durongdej, CEO of H2O Hydro, importer of Iceland Spring bottled water, was launching small bottles for children. Joining her was fashion designer Varithorn Kanpaibool who presented her collection of mother and child outfits modelled on society mums and their kids.

I then went on to Gaysorn Village for the Moleskine Wonder Journey exhibition at its pop-up store. The Italian brand is known for its Metro Bags and Smart Writing System, the latter connecting paper and digital devices to function as a whole, consisting of paper tablet smart notebook, smart diary/planner, notes app and smart pen. For this campaign, it has joined hands with Seatapron Korwanichakul, better known as Painterbell and the creator of John Lulu and friends characters, to create using the Moleskine Pen + Ellipse an art journey out of the Metro Bags collection. Painterbell will also be drawing individual portraits of customers who spend a minimum of 3,000 baht from now until 14 November.

Cartoon characters at Moleskine x Painterbell pop up store

This was followed by the celebration of Lacoste’s 85th anniversary at Emporium. A touring exhibition pays tribute to the legendary Rene Lacoste and shows the evolution of the L1212 polo shirt through eight decades. It also unveiled the 85th anniversary capsule collection and the Paris Polo, a new contemporary chic collection.

At Lacoste's 85th anniversary touring exhibition

Exclusive design by Thomas Demand for Lacoste

Never too many crocodiles on a Lacoste shirt

The next stop was at Peninsula Plaza for the opening of Susie Hathaithep Theerathada’s One More Time antiques and One and Only jewellery boutiques at Peninsula Plaza. I couldn’t stay for the dinner (which was just as well as the guests were all dressed to the nines while I wasn’t and would have felt out of place) but wanted to drop by to offer my congratulations to this society doyenne. Guests were invited to view a small exhibition of rare antiques including ceramics, crystal and paintings prior to the dinner, which was presided over by privy councilor Dr Jaranthada Karnasuta.

With Hathaithep Theerathada at the opening of her antiques boutique at Peninsula Plaza

And finally to House No 1 on Charoenkrung for the launch of Aston Martin’s all-new Vantage. Newly appointed general manager Teddy Pornseak Pharksuwan together with distributor MGC-Asia managing director Sunhavut Thamchuanviriya welcomed the crowd of supercar aficionados. Many of them had driven to the event in their flashy sports cars, with the parking lot turned into a showroom for these luxury automobiles.

Aston Martin Vantage launch at House No 1

Now if I had been able to take the shuttle boat from the nearby River City to Anantara Riverside for the presentation of Penfolds 2018 collection, I would have been able to make six events that day. However, the Anantara Riverside boat leaves only from Taksin pier, so my evening had to end here. A pity, as it would have been nice to catch up with Penfolds’ master winemaker Peter Gago, who had flown in from Australia.

Tuesday was a public holiday,

But I was badgered into agreeing to attend the 36th anniversary of Madame Marco at Siam Paragon. President Bakery came up with the recipe for its very popular Genoa coffee cake together with Srichanok Wattanasiri Wright in 1982 and it has remained one of Madame Marco’s best-selling cakes. The anniversary was celebrated in grand style, with an 18th-century French atmosphere complete with hosts and guests dressed in period costume.

Madame Marco anniversary with Srichanok Wattanasiri Wright on the right, actress Namthip Jongrachatawiboon, Apisate Thammanomai of President Bakery and Boonkiet Chokwatana of ICC

To mark breast cancer awareness month, Blue Elephant offers a Pink Ribbon menu the whole of this month. Chef Nooror Steppe and daughter Sandra are ambassadors for the Queen Sirikit Centre for Breast Cancer and each year, chef Nooror creates a special menu in support of the initiative. Ingredients used in the dishes are those that are healthy, nutritious and help in the defense against the disease.

At Blue Elephant Pink Ribbon lunch with chef Nooror Steppe and daughter Sandra and other guests

Astrid Amaya-Garcia, wife of the Colombian ambassador, is a lady who loves art and during her husband’s posting in Thailand, she has become involved in its art activities. The couple are leaving in November and she organised a farewell exhibition bringing together Thai and international artists. 171003 was held at the Queen’s Gallery and featured 17 artists from 10 countries and three continents.

With Astrid Amaya and ML Poomchai Chumbala at 171003 art exhibition at the Queen's Gallery

Last week also marked the birthday of a good friend and popular man about town, ML Poomchai Chumbala. As was to be expected, several birthday parties were held for him and I was able to join two. One was a dinner hosted by Noreerat Noparatanaraporn of the YWCA fund-raising committee at Neil’s Tavern and the other a lunch hosted by his NewsMakers friend at Thien Duong of the Dusit Thani Bangkok. Normally he spends his birthday in London but this year was in Bangkok which gave his friends the opportunity to organise celebrations for this very much-in-demand guest.